title: Is there an impact of public smoking bans on self-reported smoking status and exposure to secondhand smoke?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Implementation of smoke free policies has potentially substantial effects on health by reducing secondhand smoke exposure. However little is known about whether the introduction of anti-smoking legislation translates into decreased secondhand smoke exposure. We examined whether smoking bans impact rates of secondhand smoke exposure in public places and rates of complete workplace smoking restriction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Canadian Community Health Survey was used to obtain secondhand smoking exposure rates in 15 Ontario municipalities. Data analysis included descriptive summaries and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and compared across groups
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across all studied municipalities, secondhand smoke exposure in public places decreased by 4.7% and workplace exposure decreased by 2.3% between the 2003 and 2005 survey years. The only jurisdiction to implement a full ban from no previous ban was also the only setting that experienced significant decreases in both individual exposure to secondhand smoke in a public place (-17.3%, 95% CI -22.8, -11.8) and workplace exposure (-18.1%, 95% CI -24.9, -11.3). Exposures in vehicles and homes declined in almost all settings over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of a full smoking ban was associated with the largest decreases in secondhand smoke exposure while partial bans and changes in existing bans had inconsistent effects. In addition to decreasing exposure in public places as would be expected from legislation, bans may have additional benefits by decreasing rates of current smokers and decreasing exposures to secondhand smoke in private settings.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care and Population Health, Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Studies, (2075 Bayview Avenue Room G1-06), Toronto, (M4N 3M5), Canada. a.naiman@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Alisa B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Naiman
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Glazier
authors.forename: Rahim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moineddin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D011633:Public Facilities; D011634:Public Health; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution